I believe in a romantic transcendentalist approach to nature resources.

I hold the
belief that life has value. When not in conflict with the value of life on this planet,
human interaction with natural resources should be the pursuit of knowledge. My
approach to resource management rests on these two central ideas. These values
result in an approach to management that focuses on biodiversity.
The criteria of biodiversity can be used to guide management decisions on a
variety of scales and about a multitude of systems. I propose that biodiversity as a
priority to management can be implemented by focusing on three different levels. I
see those three levels as diversity in genes, species and ecosystems. This three-piece
approach to conservation takes the long view toward maintaining resilient and
vibrant biological systems.
I place a great importance in maintaining our resources for the long term. It is
my belief that good resource management is always mindful of the impact any
action will have in tens and hundreds of years from now. I do not believe that
management should be to provide for future generations as advocated in Conover
and Conover. It is the value I place in life itself that requires management mindful of
future impacts.
Diversity of life can provide a higher potential of withstanding any possible
disturbance to the system. On a global scale these principles put focus on issues that
affect all ecosystems such as global warming. Following this scale are issues facing
particular ecosystems such as deforestation and desertification. The lowest level
includes protecting the genetics of a population. This allows for both coarse and fine
filter approaches to management.
This management philosophy allows for human use of resources on the
condition that such use does not result in degradation. For example, people can
harvest fish as long as the resulting genetic diversity in the population remains at a
level comparable to other non-harvest species, all species present prior to the
harvest are present following the harvest and to the best of our understanding the
aquatic ecosystem remains intact and functioning.
The educational component of my management philosophy is interconnected
with the focus on biodiversity. Understanding these systems will only be possible
with the many intricate pieces of the world’s ecosystems in place. Conversely,
managing these resources depends on having the information needed to make good
management decisions.
I believe the future of resource management is adaptive management. This
means that, as knowledge about the biogeochemical cycle changes so too should
management. My management philosophy might best serve its goal if allowed to
best fit with the information on the ground. Until some approach is proven to
provide better results, I believe three-piece biodiversity remains the best conceptual
route to ensure a continuation of life on earth.